Five Most Skilled Fighters I've Seen In My Lifetime Thread

Pernell Whitaker #1 James Toney #2 Floyd Mayweather Jr. #3 Bernard Hopkins #4 Mike McCallum #5 Best of the rest (no order): Buddy McGirt, Michael Nunn, Michael Watson, Oscar De La Hoya, Juan Manuel Marquez, Ivan Calderon, Roy Jones Jr., Chris Eubank, Lennox Lewis, Joe Calzaghe, Julio Cesar Chavez

floyd mayweather jr is the most skilled and fluent fighter i have ever seen, bar none. the perfect fighter, period. ali was the most skilled heavyweight i have ever seen sugar ray leonard was just amazingly skilled to the core sugar ray robinson imo is the greatest p4p fighter i have ever seen tapes of, his style was so dynamic. wasn't more skilled than mayweather, but up there with him. roy jones is the opitomy of dynamic, the most unique style i have ever seen and the best fighter of his era. runners up-hopkins, calderon, pep, whitaker, benitez, james toney.

floyd mayweather jr is the most skilled and fluent fighter i have ever seen, bar none. the perfect fighter, period. ali was the most skilled heavyweight i have ever seen sugar ray leonard was just amazingly skilled to the core sugar ray robinson imo is the greatest p4p fighter i have ever seen tapes of, his style was so dynamic. wasn't more skilled than mayweather, but up there with him. roy jones is the opitomy of dynamic, the most unique style i have ever seen and the best fighter of his era. runners up-hopkins, calderon, pep, whitaker, benitez, james toney.

Calzaghe's fight style wasn't easy on the eye, which didn't endear him to everyone, but you can't deny his skill in a boxing ring. He's workrate was superhuman, and his ability to adapt and change styles in fights was a one off(The Kessler fight is the best example of this). The only fighter of the last 10-15 years i see beating prime Calzaghe is Roy Jones Jr, and possibly Bernard Hopkins? But apart from that? The reason why people don't give Joe the true respect he deserves IMO, is because he didn't get the chance to test himself against the elite P4P fighters, back when Joe was in his prime. Joe Calzaghe was a very skilled and highly talented boxer. End of! Time for people to fess up, and give him his due. Sometimes, an opponents makes you look more impressive. Joe is good, but his lack of world class opposition and facing old men made him look better than he actually was. I mean against Hopkins, a 43 year old, Joe looked absolutely awful, simply because Hopkins is too much of a technician. He was good, but let's get it straight, he was in no way skilled to be in the "Top 5" imo. Ali, Tyson, (Short lived, but for a HW, skills were like a Middle Weight or Welter Weight), a different sort of "skill" Hopkins, Roy Jones, Mayweather, All in my opinion of course.

honestly no hate or biasness winky wright juan manuel marquez joe calzaghe roy jones bernard hopkins all at one point in recent history made me say damn that is a great fighter right there... wether i was rooting for them or not ...b hop actually had me clapp 4 him after the pavlik fight and joe and roy had my jaw hit the floor more than once ..and the 1st time i saw winky fight mosley(who would be 6th) i almost shit..as 4 marquez ..well you saw the diaz fight

I included them together despite the differences in career longevity and age because they are coming to an end around roughly the same period. Toney's successes are a few years past at this point, but I think he deserves to be included. As for Jones, you are correct that he did have skills (although unorthodox), but like you I would not include him with the three names I mentioned. We saw how far his bare skills could take him when his physical peak started to slip - he was unable to make the adjustments that the most skilled fighters do to extend their careers past their prime. Incidentally, I agree with your comments about the passing of the crafty fighter in boxing. I'm not sure if we will ever see a fighter like any of those three again. The likes of Toney most especially I think, who has a style modeled after Jersey Joe Walcott and Ezzard Charles, will probably never be seen in the ring again. I would include Lopez, whose career ended in 2001, with Whitaker classed in the category of the generation before the one currently coming to an end, which is why I omitted his name. When I saw the title of the thread, Ezzard Charles was the first name to come to my mind.

in no particular order: paul williams paul williams paul williams paul williams paul williams

I'm surprised Ricardo Lopez has been mentioned so little in this thread. I was "keeping it 2000", as most people are doing, but you absolutely have a point.

wmute! hower u sir? where is the luv for juan manuel marquez in this "passing generation"? what about chris john or ivan calderon? Hey Talip! I mentioned Calderon and Marquez in a previous post. Chris John I don't know if he should be included.

I'm surprised Ricardo Lopez has been mentioned so little in this thread. Well, the conditions of the thread are you have to have seen the person either live in an arena, or live on television. I saw most of Lopez's fights on replay, and only one or two live. Otherwise I would've mentioned him.

Sadly I think it is Mayweather for this passing generation and Hopkins and Toney for the past one. Sadly because I think the pool of really crafty fighters is shrinking with time and if we are at 3,2,1 now we are close to zero. If I compare this situation to the 80s I get sad, If I think of the 40s-50s I get desperate. As for Jones. He had technical deficiencies but he worked on his style, he was not just flash, he used his gifts to create an unorthodox style. So I would not rank him in term of skills with those you mentioned, but I think he deserves a honorable mention. I included them together despite the differences in career longevity and age because they are coming to an end around roughly the same period. Toney's successes are a few years past at this point, but I think he deserves to be included. As for Jones, you are correct that he did have skills (although unorthodox), but like you I would not include him with the three names I mentioned. We saw how far his bare skills could take him when his physical peak started to slip - he was unable to make the adjustments that the most skilled fighters do to extend their careers past their prime. Incidentally, I agree with your comments about the passing of the crafty fighter in boxing. I'm not sure if we will ever see a fighter like any of those three again. The likes of Toney most especially I think, who has a style modeled after Jersey Joe Walcott and Ezzard Charles, will probably never be seen in the ring again. I'm surprised Ricardo Lopez has been mentioned so little in this thread. I would include Lopez, whose career ended in 2001, with Whitaker classed in the category of the generation before the one currently coming to an end, which is why I omitted his name.

Manny Pacquiao Floyd Mayweather Pernell Whitaker Juan Manuel Marquez Roy Jones Jr.

Sadly I think it is Mayweather for this passing generation and Hopkins and Toney for the past one. Sadly because I think the pool of really crafty fighters is shrinking with time and if we are at 3,2,1 now we are close to zero. If I compare this situation to the 80s I get sad, If I think of the 40s-50s I get desperate. As for Jones. He had technical deficiencies but he worked on his style, he was not just flash, he used his gifts to create an unorthodox style. So I would not rank him in term of skills with those you mentioned, but I think he deserves a honorable mention. wmute! hower u sir? where is the luv for juan manuel marquez in this "passing generation"? what about chris john or ivan calderon?

I'm surprised Ricardo Lopez has been mentioned so little in this thread.

On pure natural skill.. 1. Willie Pep 2. Nicolino Locche 3. Ali 4. Roy Jones 5. SRL how old are you? im quite the youngster myself so i seen some of these guys fight when i was 4 and rewatched fights as i got older floyd mayweather roy jones pernell whitaker mike tyson bernard hopkins hector camacho had skills too

Roberto Duran Sugar Ray Leonard Pernell Whitaker Wilfredo Benitez Mike McCallum

I'm surprised Jones is getting so many mentions. Jones was much more athletic than skilled, relying almost completely on unsurpassed (at the higher weights) reflexes and speed to get away with all his technical deficiencies. Mayweather, Toney, and Hopkins are probably the big three of the passing generation. Sadly I think it is Mayweather for this passing generation and Hopkins and Toney for the past one. Sadly because I think the pool of really crafty fighters is shrinking with time and if we are at 3,2,1 now we are close to zero. If I compare this situation to the 80s I get sad, If I think of the 40s-50s I get desperate. As for Jones. He had technical deficiencies but he worked on his style, he was not just flash, he used his gifts to create an unorthodox style. So I would not rank him in term of skills with those you mentioned, but I think he deserves a honorable mention.

I'm surprised Jones is getting so many mentions. Jones was much more athletic than skilled, relying almost completely on unsurpassed (at the higher weights) reflexes and speed to get away with all his technical deficiencies. Mayweather, Toney, and Hopkins are probably the big three of the passing generation.

I forgot the Marquez brothers, and I want to throw in JLC and possibly Izzy for infighting. All of this because I am of restricting myself to very recent years.

Pernell Whitaker Cristian Mijares Muhammad Ali Floyd Mayweather Jr. Juan Manuel Marquez